Chapter 17: A Not so Secret Admirer.
*Jane*
Who would send me flowers? Not Xander, that much was
certain. He hasn’t sent me flowers since we got married, and he
definitely won’t now that our marriage is on the rocks.
I leaned in and spotted a small white envelope nestled between
two stems. My fingers hesitated before tugging it free.
Glad we’re on the same page again, ‘Girlfriend.‘ You’re stuck
with me now, forever or until Xander wakes up. – Aaron.
I shook my head in laughter, catching me off guard. I snatched
my phone out of my bag and dialed his number.
He picked up on the first ring. “I take it you received the
flowers.”
“Seriously? Aaron?”
“You said game on, so I’m thinking what a fake boyfriend could
get as a welcome back gift to his fake girlfriend, soemthing can make her happy, so red roses. They let you think of me right?”
His tone was playful, as if I should be appreciate it.
Chapter 17: A Not so Secret Admirer
“They’re beautiful, Aaron. But this isn’t real, we just want
Xander to believe it is. There’s no need for flowers.”
He gasped dramatically. “You wound me, Jane.” He let out a breathy laugh before continuing. “I’m just trying to speed up the process. On how convincing you want this to be. We can go all in, or we can half–ass it. Your call.”
I paused for a moment and glanced at my eyes again. The way Aaron spoke, that casual attitude, annoyed me a lot – but at the same time it made things easier. Not so heavy, not so real.
“And how do you plan on doing that?” I asked, surprising myself.
“Lunch, iron out the details. You tell me what comes next in this plan.”
I sucked in a breath. Even though we were talking about a fake relationship to get back at my husband… it felt like something was building up between us. My wolf was all the more aware of it. This was uncharted territory. I had to be careful.
“Me? Don’t forget you suggest the idea” I cleared my throat and tried again. “I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was my idea, so I’ll hold your hand through it.”
Chapter 17: A Not so Secret Admirer.
I had to resist the urge to give a flirtatious retort, so I settled for
a quick, “Thanks.”
“It’s no sweat.” I could clearly picture his full lips spreading into
that grin I feared he’d began to reserve just for me. “I’ll get
everything ready and send you the address.”
I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me. “That’s fine.” I tried
to sound as nonchalant as possible even though my heart was
beating a mile per minute.
“See you soon, girlfriend,” he teased, before the line went dead.
I kept the phone pressed to my ear for a beat longer. My gaze
drifted back to the bouquet sitting on my desk. Was I playing
Xander? Or was I just fooling myself?
I spent the next hour pretending to work, eagerly awaiting
lunch with Aaron. I’d even retrieved my glasses hoping it’d help
convince me to take this seriously. But I couldn’t stop glancing
at the flowers.
I’d read the note about five times by that point, particularly the
‘I’ll always be by your side,’ line, making my stomach in knots.
My phone chimed at that moment. I looked down to see a text.
Chapter 17. A Not so Secret Admirer
Aaron: Do you really want me to pick where we eat? This is
your last chance to decline.
I chuckled. My fingers flew over my phone as I typed in a
response.
Me: Never. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. You’re the
one pet
paid to play my fake boyfriend, remember?
Aaron: Well, that’s not pressure at all.
Me: Come on, I’m sure you can handle it. Just pick a place and I’ll
- go.
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